At Blend, you’ll often hear us say that no one wants a mortgage — they want to buy a home. Of course, that means navigating an incredibly complex process, and one that requires working with a broad range of service providers including realtors, property and casualty insurers, appraisers, inspectors, title agencies, notaries, and eventually a moving company. Blend is working to connect all of these service providers together through a single platform so they can collaborate with lenders and provide consumers with a vastly improved experience.
Over the last year, we’ve dedicated a great deal of time and energy evaluating how to best leverage technology to enhance the entire homebuying journey, from application start to close and beyond. As part of the process, we’ve explored many ways to streamline title, escrow, and settlement services, and I’m pleased to announce today that we’ve signed a definitive agreement to acquire Title365 — a leading provider in the industry — from Mr. Cooper. This move will help us quickly advance our impact in the space.
When we complete the acquisition, Title365’s services will be integrated with Blend’s digital platform, which allows users to automate title commitment upon loan application submission, digitally reconcile settlement fees in real time, and streamline communication between lenders, settlement teams, and consumers. Bringing together Blend’s technology and engineering talent with Title365’s deep industry and operational expertise will help us to minimize costs and inefficiencies by deeply integrating title and settlement into the loan process.
The combined strengths of Blend and Title365 will unlock even more value for customers by offering additional choices and deeper expertise, all on one unified platform. What does providing more choice really look like? In the last few years, Blend has created a homeowner’s insurance marketplace where consumers can shop for competitive rates in real time across more than 25 insurance carriers, now used by 70+ financial institutions including U.S. Bank and First Horizon Bank. Similarly, Title365 will be part of a title marketplace that allows lenders and consumers to choose the best partner for their needs. We always want to empower consumers to take more ownership in their financial decisions, and today’s news is a big step in that direction.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated a shift to digital that was already happening — and we want to be the best partner possible for our customers as they undergo this digital transformation. With technology, we can make a consumer’s home purchase experience simple, transparent, and accessible. I often stress how Blend is a team of builders focused on driving real impact in our industry. We’re really excited about the agreement to add Title365 to our team as we continue our work to build the full consumer homebuying journey into our platform. With Title365, we will be able to expand our ability to put lenders at the center of a vastly improved homebuying journey that delivers new levels of efficiency, speed, convenience, and cost savings to everyone.
Title365’s intense focus on innovation and transparency makes them the right match to help us make a significant impact quickly for lenders, consumers, and the entire industry. We’re committed to building alongside our partners for the long term, and I’m excited for the innovation we can deliver to our customers together.